Meeting planners doing more with less

By Christine Borne

The majority of meeting planners responding to a meeting trends survey of meeting and event professionals by Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and American Express were in agreement that they would continue to face more budget cuts, more stringent budget controls, improved operating efficiencies, slight staff reductions, closer attention to value and ROI, and a general orientation toward doing more with less in the coming year.

With all these pressures, business during the next era will require “creativity, flexibility and strategic relationship building,” concludes FutureWatch 2010.

“As our businesses shift from the mindset of survive to thrive, it’s imperative that we have the ability to analyze relevant data and translate it into business success,” MPI CEO Bruce MacMillan said. “The 2010 edition of FutureWatch empowers industry professionals with timely data they can utilize to make critical business decisions.”

The forecast report predicts that U.S. meeting planners will plan 21 percent more meetings in 2010 than they did in 2009 while spending 3.5 percent less per meeting. One shift the research found is that planners expect to locate 80 percent of their meetings within the United States this year, compared to 61 percent last year.

Some of the key trends identified are:
• Meetings located closer to home with fewer participants traveling long distances to get onsite
• Meetings ROI continuing as a major focus for planners
• Corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a continuing interest for meetings
• Technology solutions — a high priority, especially the desire by planners to improve the audiovisual experience for their participants

For more information about FutureWatch 2010, including a free executive summary, visit mpiweb.org.